


With closed eyes and open hearts

by deblond



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, Short & Sweet, blind dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 12:19:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16853860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deblond/pseuds/deblond
Summary: Magnus' friends decide to set him up on blind dates in order to help him find love.Alec is not amused.





	With closed eyes and open hearts

“Well, romance is dead!” Magnus announced dramatically when he entered his apartment that Friday night.

“Hello to you too Magnus,” Isabelle said from the couch without looking up from the braid she was doing on Clary’s hair.

“I take it your date went well?” Simon asked around a mouthful of popcorn.

In theory only him and Isabelle lived in the apartment but Magnus wasn’t surprised of finding Clary, Simon and Jace there too. Their place was often the center of the gang reunions. It helped that they all lived less than five minutes away from it, especially Jace and Alec, who shared the apartment next door.

“Dinner was fine until we reached dessert. Apparently he has a boyfriend and they are trying to spice things up in the bedroom so they want to have a threesome. He thought the best way to tell me was to have said boyfriend join us while we ate our chocolate cake and then they both disappeared into the bathroom waiting for me to join them,” Magnus explained while he served himself a much-deserved glass of wine. 

“And did you join them?” Jace asked grinning mischievously.

“No, I didn’t. I like to know if I’m going to have a threesome before it happens thank you very much.”

“Yeah, not everyone is like you, Jace,” Simon joked.

“Hey!” Jace shoved Simon playfully and Simon pushed him to the floor.

Ignoring her boyfriend and her best friend playfighting on the carpet, Clary turned to Magnus, apparently the only one feeling bad for him. “That sucks, Magnus,” she said. “Where did you even find this guy?”

“Tinder,” Isabelle answered before he could, finishing Clary’s braid.

Three judgmental set of eyes turned towards him. “Tinder? Really?” Jace scoffed.

“What? I work more than forty hours a week at the hospital. How else am I supposed to meet people? It’s not that bad.” He refused to feel guilty about using the app, even though he had been embarrassed when he first downloaded it.

“Yeah, clearly,” Simon muttered. “You can only find the best of the best in there.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” Magnus said defeatedly. “I’m swearing off dating. For good. Clearly I’m destined to end up alone since there are literally no decent single people left in New York.”

“Don’t say that, you are not going to end up alone,” Clary tried to comfort him.

Isabelle for her part, rolled her eyes, too used to Magnus’ theatrics. “Don’t listen to him, he’s just being dramatic,” she said while the front door opened again to reveal a freshly-showered and sleepy-faced Alec.

“Who’s being dramatic?” he asked instead of saying hi. Even after years of friendship, Magnus’ traitorous heart still skipped a beat when he saw him so open and unguarded.

“Nice of you to show up, sleepy-head,” Jace told him.

Alec yawned. “Shut up, I just finished a brutal shift at the firehouse, I needed a nap.” He sat down next to Magnus. “So, who’s being dramatic?”

“Magnus,” Isabelle replied dryly. “Apparently he’s going to die alone.”

“I didn’t say die,” Magnus protested. “But my last dates have been total disasters and the one tonight was just the icing on the cake.”

“I didn’t know you were going on a date tonight,” Alec said.

Magnus tried to look casual. “Yeah, it was a last-minute thing. I should have stayed home, though. And from now on I’ll do that. Netflix will be my date.”

“See, that’s just sad,” Simon said. “And this is coming from someone that was just dumped by his girlfriend and co-worker. There are still perfectly good people left to date in the city.”

“I hate to say this but I agree with Simon,” Jace intervened. “You just suck at finding them.”

“And where should I find people to date according to you?” Magnus asked, annoyed at his friends. He was expecting them to be comforting and understanding instead of putting the blame on him.

“Easy, with our help,” Simon replied. “A girl just moved into my building right next door to me and she looks just like your type.”

Jace frowned. “The tall redhead? No way. I have a friend that I could introduce to you, he’s a chef…”

“Guys, stop with the nonsense,” Isabelle interrupted. Magnus send her a thankful look. He knew he could count on her to be on his side. “If anyone is going to set Magnus up is going to be me. We live together and are best friends, I know his type best.”

Feeling betrayed, Magnus raised his voice over the bickering of his friends. “I don’t need anyone to set me up. I’m done dating, I’m serious.”

“C’mon, you don’t even want to try? Maybe we could find your soulmate.”

“You too, Clary?”

“If Magnus doesn’t want to, maybe we should respect his wishes,” Alec said. He was the only one who didn’t look excited by the perspective of playing cupid with Magnus’ love life.

Unfortunately, the rest of his friends weren’t listening to reason.

“I already texted my friend Edmund and he’s interested,” Jace said looking at his phone. “I hope you are free next Saturday because your two are going out.”

“Not fair,” complained Clary. “Why does your date get to be the first one?”

“Because I was the fastest one. You snooze, you lose, Fray.”

“Don’t worry Clary, you always have to save the best for last. Magnus, you’re going to love my friend Ginny…”

Magnus groaned and rested his head on the backrest of the couch. It looked like he was going on not one but four blind dates whether he liked it or not. He hated his life.

-

“So, Jace told me you are a chef? That must be fun,” Magnus said with what he hoped was an encouraging smile.

Edmund, or Eddie, as he insisted to be called, nodded enthusiastically, almost spilling his beer in the process. For the third time.

“Yeah, I love cookin’ and shit,” he said through a mouthful of bread. A few crumbs dropped from his mouth and onto the table. Magnus tried to repress his disgusted expression. “You like eating?”

“Eh…I guess. Who doesn’t?”

Eddie nodded and put more butter on this bread, staining the right cuff of his shirt with it. He didn’t even seem to notice, too busy shoving the bread into his mouth. “Right on, man. I have to make you my famous chili recipe next time. You’ll love it. Wait, you aren’t one of those plant-eating fuckers, are you? Those vegans.”

The couple from the table next to them shoot them a dirty look and Magnus guessed that they were “plant-eating fuckers”. He decided to change the subject.

“And how do you know Jace?” 

He was doing his best to keep an open mind and give the guy a chance but it was really difficult. While he wasn’t ugly, he looked and behaved like a slob, and Magnus was self-aware enough to recognize that, even if the guy were the nicest and smartest guy in the world (which didn’t seem to be the case), chewing with his mouth open was a deal-breaker.

“J-Man? He comes to my truck to get lunch every Friday. Motherfucker loves his tacos.”

“Your…truck?” Magnus asked confused. Eddie nodded, finishing his beer and gesturing to the waiter for another, without bothering to ask Magnus if he wanted anything. “Wait, so when you say you are chef, you mean you have a street food-truck?”

“Yeah, man. Mexican food. Love that shit,” Eddie replied loudly. He didn’t seem to have an inside voice and Magnus was starting to wonder if he had some kind of hearing problem. “You though I was working at some fancy restaurant making empty plates like a pussy?”

“Would you excuse me for a moment? I need to use the restroom.”

Eddie nodded distractedly. “Sure, man. Have at it.” Magnus turned around to see what had captured his date’s attention and found that he was busy checking the waiter’s ass. He couldn’t leave the table fast enough.

Once he was inside the thankfully empty bathroom, Magnus took a deep breath to calm himself down (which didn’t entirely work), and dialed Jace’s number.

“Magnus, hey! Aren’t you supposed to be on your date?” Jace’s voice was barely distinguishable through the phone’s speaker with all the background noise.

“Where are you?” Magnus’ asked. 

There was a loud banging noise and people cheering. “I’m bowling with Clary, Izzy and Simon.”

“Izzy went bowing? I thought she hated it.” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What the hell were you thinking Jace?”

“Why? What’s wrong? Don’t you like my friend Edmund?”

“You mean Eddie, the food-truck guy that sells you tacos every Friday?” Magnus asked in a cutting tone.

“Oh, c’mon Magnus. I didn’t take you for such a snob,” Jace replied disapprovingly. “So what if he sells street food? It’s a perfectly valid career.”

“The problem is not his career,” Magnus explained. “But the fact the he doesn’t seem to have any manners, from every five words that he says four are swear words, and he’s too busy shoving food into his mouth to actually have a conversation with me. How could you think that we’d be a good match?”

He heard Jace clear his throat through the phone and then answer weakly. “You know, opposite’s attract.”

“Seriously?” Magnus scoffed. “You better save me from this, I’m not spending the whole evening with this caveman.”

“What? Sorry, Magnus you keep cutting off and I can’t hear you well. Anyway I have to go, it’s my turn to bowl. Give him a chance, you may have fun!”

“No, Jace, wait!” But it was useless. Jace had already hung up. “I’m going to kill him.”

The idea of having dinner with Eddie was about as appealing to Magnus as shoving a pencil on his eye but he couldn’t get away without a believable excuse. He wasn’t that rude, even if the guy deserved it.

His friends were out of the question, if they were all bowling together Jace most likely had already told them about the call and they would probably not pick up the phone. Catarina, the only co-worker that Magnus trusted enough on a situation like this, was working tonight and she wouldn’t appreciate Magnus calling her to bail him out on a date while she was on shift.

That left only one option. Alec. He was off today and Jace hadn’t mentioned him so was probably home and would be able to help him. However Magnus wasn’t exactly thrilled to call the friend he had a crush on so that he’d save him from an awful date.  
But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Alec answered on the fourth ring. “Hello, Magnus?” He sounded a little out of breath and Magnus almost shivered hearing his deep voice over the phone.

“Hi. Sorry, are you busy?”

“No, I just got out of the shower,” Alec replied and Magnus was totally not picturing Alec’s body wet and flushed, all clean and ready for Magnus to dirty it up. No, he wasn’t. “What do you need? I thought you were on a date.”

Magnus shook his head to clear his mind of fantasies that would never happen. “Yeah, about that. Turns out Jace sucks as a matchmaker. Big surprise. I need you to help me get out of this date.”

“Is it that bad?” Alec chuckled.

“Yes,” Magnus answered firmly. “I’ll tell you the details later. Could you call me in fifteen minutes and pretend it’s an emergency?”

“Really, Magnus? A fake emergency? That’s not very nice,” Alec said sounding way too amused with Magnus’ predicament.

“Alexander, please,” he said in a pleading tone. He wasn’t above begging.

“Sorry. Yes, of course I’ll help you.” Alec’s voice was serious now.

“Thank you. Fifteen minutes.”

Magnus made his way back to the table dreading what he was going to find there. Maybe Eddie had gotten tired of waiting for him and was hooking up with the waiter instead. But his date was still at the table checking something on his phone. When Magnus sat down, Eddie looked at him with a frown.

“Are you alright, man? You were in there a long time.” He looked genuinely worried and for a moment Magnus felt bad about leaving early. Maybe Jace was right, maybe he had judged the guy too quickly and should give him another chance. “Were you shitting that long? ‘Cause I ordered the spicy tuna and I don’t think that’s gonna agree with your stomach. You should change your order.”

“You already ordered?” Never mind that. Magnus couldn’t wait to get out of here.

“You were taking forever in there!” Eddie complained. “And they are slow as fuck in this shithole. I’m starving man!”

“I chose the restaurant. It’s one of my favorites,” Magnus said icily.

“Don’t worry, man, you are not in the food biz so it’s normal that you don’t know the best places to eat,” Eddie said patronizingly. “Wait, what do you do?”

Repressing his urges to stab him with his knife, Magnus answered. “I’m a nurse.”

“Guys can do that too?” Eddie blinked in surprise, then he smirked. “Sweet. Do you wear an uniform?”

Fortunately the waiter’s arrival with Eddie’s third beer saved Magnus from answering the question. He wasn’t sure he would have been able to be polite.

After twenty minutes of listening to Eddie’s monologue about his day-to-day on the food-truck (not a particularly interesting topic) Magnus was ready to use the knife but on himself. Anything to end his suffering. Alec had clearly forgotten about the call by now judging by how much time had passed. Magnus was going to murder him the next time he saw him. Right along with Jace.

To make matters worse they were still waiting for the main courses. Magnus already knew that the restaurant didn’t have the quickest service but they made up for it in the quality of their food. However he hadn’t planned on being stuck in a table with someone like Eddie. Dinner was going to be endless.

“Magnus, there you are.”

Magnus raised his head, sure that in his desperation he was starting to imagine things but no, in front of them, tall and dressed all in black, stood Alec.

“Alexander?” he asked in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s Jace. He’s in the hospital. It’s an emergency.” Alec’s tone was so urgent that for a moment Magnus believed him and his heart went to his throat but then he noticed the pointed look that Alec send him when he said ‘emergency’ and realized that this was his way out of the date.

“Oh my god, really? We have to go immediately. I’m so sorry Eddie but this is important.” He stood up and had his coat on before Eddie could answer. Leaving a twenty dollar bill on the table that more than covered his glass of wine, Magnus left the restaurant without looking back.

“Wow,” Alec said from behind him, picking up his pace to keep up with Magnus’ long strides. “I’d never seen you walk this fast before. I think you left your scarf on the back of the chair.”

“It doesn’t matter, I’ll buy another one.”

Once they were at a safe enough distance from the restaurant, Magnus slowed his step and looked at Alec. “Thank you, Alexander. But you didn’t have to come all the way here, you could have just called like I told you.”

Alec shrugged and scratched the back of his neck. “It’s fine. I wasn’t doing anything anyway. Thought it’d be more convincing this way.”

“How did you even know I was here?”

“Eh, Jace told me. But also, I know this is one of your favorite restaurants.”

“Jace,” Magnus groaned. “I’m going to kill him when I see him. He set me up with the guy that sells him food in a street truck every week.”

“Seriously? I thought he was a chef,” Alec chuckled.

“Apparently for Jace cooking tacos in the street is considered being a chef,” Magnus replied. “And it’s not even about his profession or the fact that there are pencils smarter than him. He had zero manners and I caught him checking out the waiter’s ass a few times. Oh and he chewed with his mouth open!”

Alec winced. “That’s a deal-breaker for you. I’m surprised you lasted that long.”

“I had to look away while he ate all of our bread for fear of throwing up.” They stopped at a red light and Magnus sighed with defeat. “It serves me well for listening to Jace in the first place.”

“At least now you have an excuse to stop with this blind dates nonsense,” Alec grumbled while they crossed the street. Magnus looked at him, surprised about his grumpy tone and he added, “I mean they should respect your wishes and stop meddling in your love life, right?”

“I guess. But they are just trying to help.”

Alec made a noncommittal noise that could mean anything and changed the subject. “Look,” he said gesturing towards an ice-cream parlor that was still open. “I think you deserve a treat after that awful date.”

“I don’t know… I haven’t gone to the gym all week.”

“Oh, c’mon Magnus, you know you look good.” Magnus raised his eyebrows in surprise at Alec’s words. “I mean- you are in good shape. You can afford to eat some ice-cream,” Alec said quickly, already walking towards the place. “I’m buying.”

Magnus pretended to cave in. “Fine, but I want-“

“Strawberry and cookie dough, I know,” Alec interrupted him pretending to be offended. “Who do you think you’re talking to?”

Shaking his head, Magnus followed Alec into the store, his awful date already forgotten.

-

The thing was that Magnus didn’t intend to fall in love with one of his best friends. The whole thing was such a cliché that it was almost funny. Except for the fact that he had to see Alec every day and spent time with him but he had to pretend that his feelings were purely platonic. He had to pretend that he wasn’t dying to kiss him every time he saw him.

If it were only attraction Magnus would have been able to handle it and it would have gone away with time, but it only got stronger every day. Alec was Magnus’ favorite person and he loved to spend time with him. 

The fact that they were neighbors didn’t exactly help either. The only reason Magnus had decided to start dating so much was because he couldn’t spend another Friday night cuddled with Alec in one of their apartments binge-watching shows and pretending that they were more than they truly were. It wasn’t healthy. One night Alec had fallen sleep and Magnus had to force himself to leave to avoid doing something stupid.

The first time that Alec got injured in a call Magnus almost had a heart attack. Of course he was proud as hell that Alec was a firefighter but he had to practice breathing exercises every time that Alec was on shift and he saw a fire or some other disaster on the news.

And through it all Alec remained completely oblivious. He was one of his best friends, and he knew Magnus better than most but he didn’t have a clue about Magnus’ deepest secret. Sometime Magnus wished that Alec would find out so he could stop with all the pretending. Then he realized that that would probably mean the end of their friendship and he went back to admiring from afar.

-

“You can’t be serious!” Clary exclaimed.

“I swear. He asked me to wear my nurse uniform in bed. Before we had even eaten dinner,” Magnus groaned while all of his friends laughed at his expense. “Your boyfriend sucks at picking dates.”

“I keep telling you, I thought you guys would be a good match. And I still think that you didn’t give him more of a chance. It’s not fair if you walk out before the date it’s over,” Jace had the nerve to say. 

Somehow Magnus had refrained from beating his friend up. Instead he had changed his contacts on the phone, replacing Clary’s number with his mothers and vice versa (Simon’s genius idea). Jace’s embarrassed expression when he texted his mother a shirt-less pic almost made the date worth it. Almost.

“You are just mad because you lost,” Simon told Jace. “Don’t worry, Magnus. My date will be way better than his.”

Magnus had his suspicions that the whole finding him a date thing had become less about fixing his love life and more of a competition between his friends.

“You guys are still doing this?” Alec asked incredulously. “After I had to come and literally save you from your date?”

Isabelle intervened before Magnus could answer. “Why wouldn’t we do it, big brother? We promised Magnus we would help him find his soulmate. Don’t you care about Magnus?” 

“Of course I do,” he replied and Magnus stupidly felt butterflies on his stomach by the admission. “But I think he’s capable of finding his own dates.”

“One would think that.”

“Um, hello? I’m standing right here. Could you guys stop talking about me as if I was a child?” 

Simon snorted. “If you were a child we wouldn’t be setting you up on dates.” Magnus glared at him and his laughter stopped abruptly.

“Look guys, I really… appreciate your effort but I think Alec is right. This was a bad idea,” he said firmly.

“But I already told my friend Irma that you guys were going out next weekend. I can’t cancel on her now. She’s going to think that I’m unreliable and I need her to put in a good word at her studio for me,” Clary said with a guilty expression. “I’m sorry Magnus.”

Magnus moaned in frustration. “Fine, I’ll go out with her. Bur promise me that she’s really a girl that you are actually friends with and not a random barista at your favorite coffeeshop or something like that.”

She laughed. “Don’t worry, we used to go to class together and got really close. She’s super fun. You are going to love her.”

-

Cursing under his breath, Magnus made his way down the hallway leaving a trail of water behind him. As if taking an impromptu dive on a dirty lake wasn’t enough, no taxi had bothered to stop for him and he had to take the subway to get home. Magnus hated taking the subway, but riding it soaking wet was definitely a new low.

He almost wept with relief when he reached his apartment door. The only thing that he wanted to do at the moment was take a hot shower and get into bed. But before he could get into the apartment and do just that the door in front of him opened.

“Magnus? Are you alright?” Alec asked with worry. “What happened to you?”

“I just got back from my date with Clary’s friend,” Magnus grumbled.

Alec’s worry morphed into amusement. “And was that date underwater?”

“Very funny,” he said dryly. “No. After coffee we decided to take a stroll around the lake and Irma had the fantastic idea of going on a boat ride.”

“How romantic,” Alec drawled, all amusement erased from his expression. “Did you go skinny dipping or something?”

Magnus looked at him unimpressed. “Do you seriously think that I would go skinny dipping in a dirty lake in the middle of the day? Apparently Irma is scared to death of frogs and there was one hiding in our boat. When it came out she went crazy and knocked the boat over. We both went into the water.”

“That’s… wow. Frogs, really?” Alec asked. His whole face was contorted in an effort to repress his laughter. He was actually going red.

“Go ahead. Let it out,” Magnus scowled.

And Alec did. His deep laughter echoed in the hallway and he wiped the corner of his eyes without stopping laughing. Despite his anger Magnus felt himself smile a little at seeing him so carefree. Even if it was at his expense.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” he said taking a deep breath to stop his laughter. “But it’s too good to be true.”

“I wish. Security didn’t believe us and we had to pay a fine!” Magnus exclaimed before sneezing.

In a second, Alec’s laughter had stopped and he was moving Magnus towards his apartment. “You should go take a hot shower and dry out before you catch a cold.”

“Yes, mum.” Magnus let out a dramatic sigh. “If you don’t hear from me I’ve drowned myself in the bathtub to end this suffering.”

Alec snorted. “Do you want to come by our place after you’ve showered? We can finish watching Sense8.”

That sounded like heaven after the afternoon that Magnus had just had and he wasn’t even going to pretend to think about it. “I’ll be right there. Wait, weren’t you going out?”

“Oh, I was just going to the store to get some groceries. I can do it while you shower,” Alec answered. “I’ll pick up dinner. Any preferences?”

“Surprise me,” Magnus said. “I trust you.”

Maybe spending the evening with his best friend whom he was hopelessly in love with wasn’t the healthiest way of dealing with a bad date but honestly, Magnus didn’t give a shit in that moment.

He only cared about the fact that being with Alec made him feel comfortable and safe.

-

After two failed attempts at blind dates, Magnus was determined to refuse to keep going with his friends’ stupid idea but somehow Simon managed to convince him to give his neighbor Ginny a chance. According to Simon she was nice and pretty, she had manners and she wasn’t particularly scared of any type of animals.

Simon also had the brilliant idea of scheduling their date as a group outing in the Hunter’s Moon, the bar where Simon worked as a bartender and where their gang usually hung out. At the time, Magnus had thought that it was a good idea, since having the rest of his friends there would take away some of the pressure of the first date but now he wasn’t so sure.

“So, has Magnus already told you about the time he got so drunk on tequila that he mistook the security guy for a go-go dancer in a club?” Izzy asked Ginny while they waited for their drinks.

Magnus glared at his friend before turning towards his date. “That was years ago and in my defense the security guy was weirdly good-looking. And I think he was wearing eye-liner!”

Ginny chuckled good-naturedly. So far she did seem smart and nice. She was also really pretty. Magnus thought that it looked like Simon was going to be the one to win their competition and judging by the smirk on his face, he knew it too. However he wasn’t exactly feeling a spark between them.

“Don’t worry, I have my own share of embarrassing drunken stories. Simon can tell you one from not so long ago.”

“Me?” Simon asked confused. “Oh, right. That was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing,” Ginny insisted. “I drank a little too much while clubbing with my friends and I accidentally entered the wrong apartment.” She looked at Simon mean fully.

Clary gasped. “Are you serious? What happened?”

“Well, I didn’t notice until I went to bed and found Simon already sleeping there.”

Magnus raised his eyebrows in surprise, that he was sure was mirrored in the faces of all of his friends. Somehow Simon had forgotten to mention that small detail when he had set up the date.

“She scared me half to death,” Simon said scratching the back of his neck. 

“If you didn’t let your front door open…” Alec deadpanned. He had been uncharacteristically quiet and grumpy all night. Magnus knew that he had trouble warming up to strangers sometimes but it was just one person and the rest of his group of friends was there so it couldn’t be that. He made a mental note to ask him later if something had happened at work.

“How do you not notice that you’re in someone else’s apartment?” Izzy asked suspiciously.

“Anyway it was fine in the end,” Ginny said quickly. “Thankfully Simon is a gentleman and he walked me to my own place when he realized what had happened. He even let me a glass of water in my bedside table for the morning.” 

She looked at Simon with a fond smile while he shrugged it off. Right, Magnus almost snorted out loud. Simon had set him up with a girl that had a crush on him. This was new. One look at Isabelle confirmed that she had realized it too.

“Here are your orders, guys. Sorry for the wait, we are swamped tonight.”

As if things couldn’t be more awkward, Maia, Simon’s ex-girlfriend and co-worker showed up with their drinks. Not that surprising given that she was the bartender on shift tonight.

“Do you need me to help out?” Simon offered immediately.

“Are you scheduled to work tonight? Then no,” she replied cuttingly when Simon shook his head. “Enjoy.”

A charged silence surrounded the table after she left that clearly no one knew how to break. Maia and Simon’s break up had been messy and they still had feelings for each other, which made the wound deeper. It didn’t help that they still had to see each other almost every day.

Simon cleared his throat. “Um, I think it’s better if I leave.”

They all protested and tried to get him to stay but Simon waved them off, gathering his stuff and leaving some dollars to pay for his untouched beer.

“I’ll come with you,” Ginny said. “You shouldn’t be alone right now.”

Jace coughed into his drink to hide his laugh. She was not even being subtle if Magnus’ more oblivious friend had noticed her true feelings.

“No, it’s alright,” Simon replied with a confused frown. It seemed like he was the only one that hadn’t noticed that Ginny only had eyes for him. “You stay with Magnus and get to know each other.”

Ginny looked so defeated that Magnus stupidly felt bad for her. “She can come with you. I’m ready to call it a night too anyway,” he lied.

They said goodbye and left the bar, with Ginny glued to Simon’s side.

“Eddie doesn’t look so bad now, does he? At least he wasn’t into someone else,” Jace asked Magnus smugly. Clary elbowed him on the side and he winced. “What? I’m just being honest.”

“So, we all agree that she got in his bed on purpose, right?” Isabelle asked. “Should we be worried? Like, is she a potential stalker?”

“Eh, Lewis can take care of himself,” Jace shrugged it off.

They started arguing about whether Simon needed their help or not and Magnus took the opportunity to move his chair closer to Alec.

“Is everything okay?”

“Of course. Why are you asking?” Alec replied with a fake smile.

Magnus looked at him narrowing his eyes. He hated when Alec lied to him like he was a stranger. “You barely said a word today.”

“I guess I didn’t have anything to say. I’m sorry your date was a bust.”

“I’m not. Even if she wasn’t a possible stalker obsessed with Simon I don’t think we are meant to be.” 

“At least you didn’t end up soaking wet this time,” Alec teased him with a real smile this time. Magnus wanted to be mad but he couldn’t when he saw that smile.

“The night is young, Alexander,” he said instead.

At that moment he noticed that his friends had stopped arguing about the stalker and were instead looking at them with curiosity.

“Who’s getting wet and why?” Jace asked raising his eyebrows. Clary elbowed him again and he winced but didn’t complain. She clearly had him wrapped around her little finger.

Instead of answering him, Magnus turned towards Alec. “Do you want to play some pool? I’ll go easy on you this time.”

“I don’t need you to go easy on me,” Alec huffed indignantly. “And last time you won because you cheated so it doesn’t count…”

And that was how Magnus spend what was supposed to be his third blind date playing pool with Alec. 

There were worse plans.

-

“I’m telling you, Catarina, it’s awful,” Magnus complained while they were at the nurse’s desk covering the night shift. Things had been quiet so far and that had given them plenty of free time to talk. “Every date is worse than the last and they won’t let me quit.”

Catarina looked at him raising an eyebrow in her ‘you’re an idiot’ expression. She wore it around Magnus a lot. “Magnus, they are your friends, not some mobsters. They can’t force you to go on a date. Just say no.”

Like it was that easy. 

“I’ve tried. But they gang up against me and it’s easier to just give in.” Magnus was aware that he was being whiny and annoying but he couldn’t help it. “At least there’s only one date left and it’s with Isabelle’s friend. Although with my luck lately he’ll turn out to be a murderer or worse.”

“Good. That’ll put an end on your suffering then,” Catarina replied bitingly. She didn’t even bother to look up from the charts she was reviewing. 

“You are not being very sympathetic about this.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Do you want me to comfort you because of your awful dates?” she said sarcastically. “Or should we talk about the real reason why none of your dates are a success?”

He furrowed his brow with confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean that you are completely in love with Alexander Lightwood. You are always going to find something that’s wrong with your other dates because they are not him.”

“That is not true!” Magnus exclaimed. Catarina looked at him with her ‘cut the bullshit’ expression and he sighed defeatedly. “Alright, fine. I may have feelings for him that go further than platonic friendship.”

That sounded way better in his head then being in love. It was as if he didn’t say the words out loud they wouldn’t be true. And he wouldn’t be the idiot pining hopelessly after his best friend.

Judging by Catarina’s expression, that wasn’t a good strategy. “Call it what you want. You should stop dating around and actually talk to him about it.”

“Are you insane? I don’t particularly feel like being rejected, but thanks for the advice.”  
The idea of Alec’s face if Magnus ever were to tell him how he felt was almost funny. Magnus knew that he would try to be nice and let him down easy (Alec may not be the most sensitive person in the world but he truly cared about his friends and Magnus was lucky enough to be counted amongst them) but things wouldn’t be the same between them after. There’d be no more late nights talking about everything and nothing or watching Netflix under the same blanket. He’d rather stay silent and keep what he had.

“How do you know that he doesn’t feel the same?”

“Because I do,” Magnus huffed petulantly. “We’ve been friends for ages. I would have noticed.” 

There had been a time when they first met, that Magnus had felt a spark between them and he thought that something could have happened. When Isabelle had introduced them she had tried to encourage Magnus to ask Alec out but he knew that it was only because they both liked guys, and not because she thought that they would make a good match. Magnus had almost asked him out but Alec was so prickly and seemed completely uninterested in romance so he decided that it was just going to make things awkward in the group. By the time they got to know each other for real, Magnus was crushing on him hard but he was afraid to say anything and ruin their friendship.

“Well, I’ve noticed,” Catarina replied when the call button from one of the rooms lightened up. “He looks at you like you’re the most amazing thing in the world. That boy is in love with you.”

She went to the room to check on the patient before Magnus could answer.

-

Magnus was still mulling over Catarina’s words when he got home that morning. One second he thought she was being ridiculous and the next he contemplated that she could be right and Alec had feelings for him, only to discard the idea again. He was driving himself crazy.

“I need some sleep, is what I need,” he muttered to himself. 

A noise coming from the bathroom interrupted him when he made his way to his bedroom. He checked his watch. Isabelle was supposed to be working already. “Izzy, is that you?”

There was no response and he pushed the door open slowly to find the source of this thoughts standing there. Shirtless.

“Hey, sorry,” Alec said turning around. “We don’t have any gauze at our place and I thought that you guys might.”

“Gauze?” Magnus asked confused. Then he noticed that Alec had a bleeding wound on the right side of his stomach. “What happened?”

“Car pile-up. I scratched my side getting a woman out of one of the trucks.”

“And you couldn’t get that checked out at the station?” Magnus said and Alec lowered his gaze guiltily. “No, of course not, because then they would have made you go to the hospital to get checked over.”

“It’s just a scratch. I’m fine!” Alec protested. “It doesn’t even need stitching.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.”

He motioned for Alec to turn to his right side and Alec grudgingly complied. Fortunately he was right and the wound wasn’t deep enough to need sutures but Magnus was still mad at him for not taking better care of himself. He knew that getting hurt sometimes was part of his job but Alec tended to take his own health too lightly when that happened.

“Were you just going to cover it without cleaning it up?” Magnus asked sternly.

“Eh… no?”

Sighing in annoyance Magnus grabbed their first aid kit and cleaned the wound with antiseptic, repressing his smug expression when Alec gasped.

“Sorry, does it sting?”

“No, it’s fine,” Alec lied.

He finished cleaning up the scratch and put a gauze to cover it. “There you go. Now hopefully it won’t get infected,” he said carefully putting everything back into place to avoid looking at Alec’s face.

“Hey.” Alec grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around. “Sorry I didn’t go get checked out but truly I’m fine. I didn’t want to spend hours waiting at the hospital after finishing a long shift.”

Magnus expression softened. Dammit, he was incapable of staying mad at Alec. “I get it, I guess. But promise me that you’ll go next time. Not that I want you to get hurt again but-“

“I promise,” Alec interrupted his ramblings. “But for the record I’d much rather have you take care of me. It’s like having my own personal nurse.”

“Well, don’t get used to it.”

They both chuckled and Magnus realized that they were standing in the middle of the bathroom, very close to each other and with Alec’s hand still on Magnus’ shoulder. Oh, and Alec was shirtless. He cleared his throat and pulled away. 

“I should go,” Alec said putting on his shirt, careful not to brush the covered wound. “I think I’m going to sleep for ten hours straight. I’m beat.”

“Yeah, me too. Night shifts are the worst.” Magnus tried not to imagine what it would be like if they could go to bed together. Not even to have sex but to sleep cuddled under the covers. The thought of sleeping wrapped in Alec’s strong arms sounded so good his eyes almost watered. God he was pathetic.

“Hey, wanna do something later? There’s a new place downtown where they serve the best Risotto in town, according to Jace. We could go try it out,” Alec said from the front door.

Magnus groaned. “That sounds good but I actually have a date tonight with Izzy’s friend. Another day?”

“Sure.” Alec’s smile didn’t waver but he avoided Magnus’ eyes. “I hope it goes well. Call me if it’s a disaster and I’ll bail you out,” he said before leaving.

Magnus stood there staring at the door thoughtfully. Had Alec been jealous? All this time Magnus had written off his annoyance with the whole blind dates debacle on him being angry on Magnus’ behalf but perhaps there was more there.

After all, Alec didn’t have any problem making fun of the dates when they were a disaster, he just seemed bothered when there was a chance they weren’t.

Deciding that he was way too sleep-deprived to make sense of anything now, Magnus undressed and threw himself onto his bed. He was sleep before his head hit the pillow.

-

“Sir, are you sure that you don’t want to order yet?” The waiter asked impatiently. To his defense, Magnus had been sitting on one of the tables for over half an hour nursing the same glass of water.

“You know what, I’m pretty sure I’m being stood up so I might as well,” Magnus replied nonchalantly before opening the menu. “What’s good here?”

Apparently taken off guard by Magnus’ words, the waiter stammered an apology and listed the specials awkwardly, clearly not knowing if he should say something about the missing date or nor. Magnus chose the garlic salmon and dismissed him.

Maybe he should be more upset about having been stood up but it was actually a relief. And not only because the dates so far had been awful. If Magnus was honest with himself before he entered the restaurant he had hoped that Izzy’s friend was also a bad date so that he could call Alec and they could go check out that new restaurant he had mentioned that morning.

Catarina was right, it was time to stop lying to himself and stop pretending that he was going to find his soulmate by going on blind dates set up by his friends. He was in love with Alec Lightwood and he was going to tell him.

After he finished his salmon.

-

Once he made his decision, Magnus couldn’t wait another day to talk to Alec. Besides, he was afraid that if he waited, in the harsh light of the morning things wouldn’t look the same and he would lose his nerve.

So when he left the restaurant that night he didn’t bother going to his place and went directly to Alec and Jace’s. Luckily he found Alec alone on the couch reading on his iPad.

“Hey!” he said when he saw Magnus’ come in. “You’re here early. Is the date over?”

“It didn’t even begin,” Magnus answered sitting down beside him with a tired sigh. “The guy didn’t show up.”

Putting his iPad aside, Alec looked at him indignantly. “Are you serious? What an asshole.”

“It’s okay,” Magnus shrugged it off. “I wasn’t in the mood for a date anyway. At least now our friends will leave me alone.”

“Or they will want to try again until one of them succeeds. You know how competitive they can be…”

Magnus pretended to shudder. “Please don’t say that.” He rested his head on the backrest of the couch and turned towards Alec. It was now or never. “Besides I don’t think I’m going to find my soulmate on a blind date,” he whispered.

“Why not?” Alec asked also lowering his voice. They stood so close on the couch that Magnus only had to lean in slightly and their lips would touch but he didn’t dare to.

“Because…” Magnus choked. It had seemed easy in the restaurant but he couldn’t bring himself to actually utter the words. Staring at Alec’s beautiful face he couldn’t imagine it twisting in disgust or pity. 

“You shouldn’t give up,” Alec said softly, looking him straight in the eye. “You are amazing. You’ll find someone and they’ll be lucky to have you.”

You are who I want to be with. I don’t want anyone else. It was on the tip of Magnus’ tongue. He opened his mouth to actually say it out loud but Alec cut him off.

“You know maybe I should get the chance to set you up on a blind date too,” he said shifting on the couch so that they weren’t face to face anymore. “I’m the only one in the group that didn’t. It’s only fair.”

So that’s what it felt like when your heart broke in pieces and you had to pretend that nothing was wrong.

“Fair,” Magnus repeated robotically. He wasn’t capable of saying anything else at the moment. He wasn’t even sure he was breathing.

“Yeah, who knows, maybe I’ll find your soulmate,” Alec said.

Magnus swallowed, trying to untie the knot on his throat so that his voice sounded normal when he replied.

“So, do you have someone in mind?”

“I think so, yeah,” Alec nodded.

“Can I know who that someone is?” Like it would matter. 

Alec shoved him playfully. “It’s a surprise, don’t be impatient. But I think you’ll like him. I mean, I hope you do.”

“I’m sure I will.” Magnus forced a smile that he hoped looked genuine but he shouldn’t have bothered because Alec wasn’t looking at him, he was too busy changing channels on the TV. Did this mean so little to him? “Well, text me the details, okay? I’m gonna go to bed.”

“Already?” Now Alec did turn to him with a disappointed expression. “I thought we could watch something and I bought some chocolate muffins from the station.”

“I’m tired and I’m not hungry but thank you,” Magnus said already halfway out the door. He wasn’t physically capable of staying in Alec’s company for another minute.

Once he was finally alone he dropped the fake smile. To his horror he could feel tears welling up in his eyes and he blinked quickly to keep them away.

What had he been thinking? This was all Catarina’s fault for giving him false hopes. Now Magnus had to get over the fact that Alec and him were never going to be more than friends. Again. 

He could only be grateful that he hadn’t actually gone through with confessing his feelings to Alec. If he felt bad now, adding the humiliation of being straight up rejected would be the final nail in his coffin.

“What’s up with you?” Isabelle’s voice startled him out of his reverie and he realized that he didn’t know how much time had passed while he had been sitting on the couch staring at the wall. He hadn’t even heard her come home.

“Nothing. I’m just tired,” he lied.

“Erik tired you out?” she asked with a suggestive smile.

“He didn’t even show up.”

That stopped in her tracks. “What? Oh my god Magnus, I’m so sorry. Maybe he misunderstood the time and place? I’ll call him.”

“Don’t bother,” Magnus interrupted her bitterly. “Clearly it’s not meant to be.”

She took off her shoes with a wince and put her feet up on the coffee table. Magnus didn’t know how she was able to walk in heels all day long.

“So have you been sitting here by yourself all this time?”

“No, I went to Alec’s for a little while.” 

“At least you had someone to spend the evening with then,” Izzy said.

Magnus couldn’t hold back a snort. “Yeah, and he has decided that he wants to set me up with someone too. Apparently even he thinks I’m pathetic and going to die alone.”

“He what?” Izzy sat up.

“Why are you so surprised?” Magnus asked her furrowing his brow. “It can’t be worse that the blind dates I’ve had so far…”

“Right. I’m just surprised because Alec seemed pretty against the idea from the beginning.”

“Well now he’s all for it.” Magnus stood up, done with conversations and people in general for the day. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”

“Magnus?” Isabelle stopped him before he left the living room. “I’m sorry. About my friend standing you up.”

“It’s not your fault,” Magnus said and he meant it. This mess was all his own damn fault.

-

There were probably people going to dentist appointments with more enthusiasm and cheer that Magnus had that Saturday night on his way to his blind date with Alec’s friend.

He had avoided Alec and the rest of his friends all week, picking up more shifts at work and using that as an excuse. He even had slept in the on-call room for a few nights even though he hated it and his back was currently paying for it. He just didn’t feel capable of facing them, which was ridiculous because he hadn’t done anything wrong and acting like this was actually making his friends more suspicious.

After tonight he had resolved to let things go back to the way they were. He was going to suffer through the date with Alec’s friend, and then never speak of blind dates or soulmates ever again.

It didn’t help his situation that he knew next to nothing about the guy he was about to meet. He only knew that his name was Ryan, he was a firefighter and he had somehow chosen Magnus’ favorite tapas restaurant to meet up, which probably meant that he was not going to set foot in said restaurant ever again, so that was another downside.

“Hi, I’m supposed to meet someone here on a date. I think he made a reservation under Ryan?” he asked the server. She checked something on her notebook and nodded, leading him towards his table.

The table were Alec was sitting, wearing a collared black shirt and looking nervous as hell. He immediately stood up when he spotted Magnus.

“Alexander?” Magnus asked not believing his eyes. “What are you doing here? Where’s Ryan?”

“There is no Ryan,” Alec answered just when Magnus thought that things couldn’t get more confusing.

“Is this a joke?” He felt nausea rising up his throat. “Are the rest of the group in on it too? I hope you’ve had fun laughing at my expense…”

“What?” Alec asked with confusion. “No, we aren’t laughing at you! They don’t even know I’m here!” He denied vehemently. He tried to grab Magnus’ arm to stop him from leaving but Magnus pulled away. “God, I’m really screwing this up,” he muttered. “Can you please sit down and let me explain?”

Despite his reservations, Magnus found himself sitting down when he registered Alec’s begging tone.

“Alright, explain,” he said dryly.

“So, there is no Ryan.”

“You said that already.” He knew that he was being too defensive but he couldn’t help it. He felt raw and exposed and one wrong move away from heartache.

“There is no Ryan because I’m your blind date.”

Magnus blinked, expecting all of this to be a surreal dream and for everything to disappear. It didn’t. “That makes no sense. Why would you want to be my blind date?”

“Because I’m in love with you, you idiot!” Alec exclaimed. “I was tired of watching you date other people and I wanted to take a chance before I lost you to someone else. I wanted to take you on the perfect date.”

“You… what?”

Lowering his gaze, Alec laughed bitterly. “Not what you expected to hear, is it? It’s okay, you can go. I’m sorry.”

Seeing him so defeated somehow made Magnus react and realize that this wasn’t a joke or one of his too real dreams. Alec Lightwood had just tricked him into going on a date because he had feelings for him. Magnus felt the corners of his mouth turn up in a giddy smile.

“Alexander,” he said grabbing Alec’s hand on top of the table. “I’ve been crazy about you ever since I met you, I’m not going anywhere.” Alec’s hopeful expression was so cute that Magnus almost laughed. “Boy, you really like to complicate things, don’t you?”

He chuckled self-deprecatingly. “I thought it would be romantic.”

God, this was too much, Magnus had to refrain himself from throwing himself on top of Alec without giving a damn if they were in a public place. “I mean, you do have pretty heavy competition,” he said fake seriously and Alec frowned. “Between the guy with no manners, that girl that threw me into the lake, the stalker obsessed with Simon and the no-show I’ve had some memorable dates. You are going to have to work hard to stand out-“

Alec didn’t let him finish his sentence. He grabbed Magnus’ arm by the elbow, making him stand up and kissed him. Magnus stopped breathing for a moment but he quickly recovered and kissed Alec back without hesitation. 

They got lost into each other, kissing for what could have been hours. He faintly registered people clapping and cheering outside of their little bubble but Alec was currently biting his bottom lip while he pulled him closer so he had better things to focus on.

Finally someone clearing their throat loudly besides them made them pull away from the kiss but they remained tangled in each other.

“I’m sorry,” the waitress apologized with a bashful expression. “Are you going to want to have dinner or not?”

“Yes, sorry!” Alec said with his face more flushed than hers. He turned towards Magnus. “We should...eh, sit down?”

Once they had ordered dinner they stayed silent for a few minutes looking at each other before laughing nervously.

“This is weird, isn’t it?” Alec asked without dropping the smile from his face.

“Yes, but it’s a good weird,” Magnus replied softly. He grabbed Alec’s hand on top of the table again and caressed his palm with his thumb. “I can’t believe this is happening after all these years…”

“All these years of me pining over you, you mean?”

Magnus gasped. “What? You did not pine over me. I assure I would have noticed. I was the one pining over you!”

“I couldn’t be more obvious,” Alec insisted. “You, on the other hand, kept going on dates with other people…” His tone was a little resentful and Magnus lowered his gaze.

“Because I was trying to get over you. I thought I had no chance.”

“And did you? Get over me?”

“What do you think?” Magnus looked at him with all the feelings he had been holding back for years, no longer afraid of showing them.

He felt Alec’s large hand cupping his cheek and then they were kissing again.

They didn’t pull away until the embarrassed waitress came over with their main courses.

-

“So we both agree we should tell them right away, right?” Alec asked on their way home. They had decided to take advantage of the nice weather and walk to their building, which allowed them some time to talk in a more relaxed setting. Also they were holding hands and Magnus felt giddy like a teenager on his first date.

“Yes,” he replied rolling his eyes. It was the third time that Alec had asked that question. “Do you not want to tell them? Do you think they’ll react badly?”

“I think it’ll be a shock for them, to be honest,” Alec said while they entered the building. “But I hope they take it well.”

“It doesn’t matter anyway. You’re mine now and you are not getting out of this so easy,” Magnus said playfully wrapping his arms around Alec’s waist. 

To his delight Alec hugged him back with a wide smile.

“No chance. You are stuck with me now.”

That sounded like the best deal in the world to Magnus but instead of saying that he decided that actions spoke louder than words and kissed Alec again. They had been kissing on and off all night, uncapable of staying away from each other for more than a few minutes. He knew that part of it was the novelty but he couldn’t imagine ever getting tired of being able to kiss Alec whenever he wanted.

“So, who’s going to tell them?” Alec asked sounding nervous again once they stood in front of the door of Magnus and Isabelle’s apartment.

“Both of us are. That’s what couples do, right? Share the burdens along with the good things.”

Alec pulled him closer again. “Couples, huh? I like that…” he said before kissing him. Magnus sank into the kiss with a content sigh.

They were so lost in each other they almost didn’t hear the door open. Almost.

It turned out that they shouldn’t have worried about how to break the news of their new relationship to their friends. They had just found out by catching them kissing in the hallway. For two long and excruciatingly painful minutes they all just stared at each other without saying a word, then Simon broke the silence with a triumphant yell.

“I told you guys there was no way Alec was setting Magnus up with someone else! C’mon!”

-

Magnus supposed that he should be a little bit more furious than he was about finding out that his friends had decided to go behind his back and set him up on bad dates on purpose, all in the hope that he and Alec would somehow end up together. But really, he was currently cuddling on the couch with the guy that he had been crazy about for years, who had just confessed to being in love with him. Things could be worse.

“There’s just one thing that I don’t get,” Alec said after their friends finished explaining their masterplan. “How did you guys know that Magnus and I had feelings for each other?”

Isabelle shot him a condescending look. “Because we have eyes, for starters. You two couldn’t have been more obvious if you tried.”

“Yeah, it was getting painful to watch,” Jace agreed and Alec threw a sofa cushion at him.

“Were all the bad dates really necessary?” Magnus asked in a whiny voice.

“We had to do something drastic to make Alec react!” Clary replied sheepishly. “I’m sorry about my friend Irma, by the way. I told her to be a bad date but I had no idea she was going to throw you into a lake.”

With the memory of his ride in the subway drenched to his toes still fresh in his mind, Magnus huffed angrily. Alec pulled him closer and kissed the side of his forehead comfortingly.

“Look guys, we did this. I’m so proud.” Simon pretended to wipe away a tear while he stared at them cuddling.

“Shut up Simon,” Alec said. “And what would you guys have done if I had really set Magnus up with someone else?”

“Then we would have moved on to plan B,” Jace replied shrugging. “Locking you both into a closet until you got your shit together.”

“I like plan B,” Magnus stated and Alec chuckled.

“So I guess in the end, Alec won the blind date competition, right?” Clary said.

Magnus turned towards Alec to find him already looking at him with a fond expression. “Oh, please. There was no competition in the first place,” he said before kissing his boyfriend. 

He didn’t remember ever feeling this happy. And it was only in a smart part because he didn’t plan on going on a blind date ever again.

**Author's Note:**

> So that's it, my first fic in this fandom. Hope you liked it
> 
> Leave a comment or come say hi on tumblr if you did!


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